By Krista Pirtle
Sports writer
The Lady Bears dominated their way through the first round of the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament, blowing past the Howard Bison, 82-28.
The 28 points allowed are the fewest since a 99-18 win over Texas State on Jan. 2, 2010.
Baylor jumped out to a 28-0 run before the Bison scored on an and-one at the 8:51 mark.
Junior center Brittney Griner was two blocks short of a triple double as she recorded 22 points and 13 boards for her 27th career double double.
Four of her rebounds were offensive.
“I should get more boards working to get position and blocking out and not relying on my height,” Griner said.
“She’s a great player,” Howard head coach Niki Reid Geckeler. “I don’t want to see her again she’s got teammate around her and that know how to get the ball to her and a coach a round her that has a system in place to get the ball to her.”
Behind Griner were sophomore Odyssey Sims with 15 and junior Brooklyn Pope with nine.
Tonight’s game did not feature the preferred transition scoring that the Lady Bears prefer, as only six points were scored on the fast break.
The tempo of the game was not to head coach Kim Mulkey’s liking, as she shouted “Attack!” and “Go!” from the sidelines.
Because the set game was played more, the Lady Bears got to work on their guard to post entry passes, as well as their outside shooting.
Even in the sets, however, Baylor’s presence in the paint was unstoppable with 48 points coming from that area.
Coming off the bench, the level of intensity was lacking, even though it offered 26 points on the evening, is an area Mulkey knows will see improvement throughout the season.
“We aren’t polished yet,” Mulkey said. “It all starts coming together around the middle of conference.”
Baylor has a day off in between game to clean up some things before the second round of the Preseason WNIT.
“We need to get on the floor in the morning and shoot free throws,” Mulkey said.
The Lady Bears will face Chattanooga at 2pm Sunday in the Ferrell Center for the second round of tournament play.
